Septa holds public meeting for King of Prussia rail line

NORRISTOWN — The light at the end of the train tunnel is several years away.

But all week long SEPTA has been trying to find out if anyone is aboard the idea of a new stretch of tracks that would whisk them to various stops in King of Prussia on the Norristown High Speed Line.

A handful of folks attended the last of three open houses hosted by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and the King of Prussia Rail Project on Thursday at the Montgomery County Planning Commission office in One Montgomery Plaza.

Norristown resident David Robinson wound his around the collection of aerial maps and charts examining half a dozen possibilities that made up the incipient “Alternatives Analysis” phase of the KoP “trunk line” and wondered which of the proposals might be on the right track.

He marveled at one plan that suggested erecting concrete columns supporting a rail line roughly 17 and a half feet above Route 202 traffic, circling around The Plaza and The Court at King of Prussia.

“I have a lot of time on my hands so I like to keep track of what’s going,” said the self-confessed “construction fanatic”. “I watched the new garage go up on Lafayette Street for, I think, $138 million, and I’m wondering with this being SEPTA, how much will this will cost?”

Robinson, who doesn’t drive, recalled a fascination with trains that went back to his childhood.

“I used to take the train with my mother from 69th Street,” he said. “I’ve liked trains as far back as I can remember. I’ve hopped ‘em and even ran away on ‘em. I like these new SEPTA trains because they remind me of the Jersey PATCO line.”

He imagined that a train ride into King of Prussia would fit conveniently into his life one day, he said.

“I think the train will be a real advantage because if you have a lot of people working at the mall coming from Norristown, I believe the train will hold a lot more people than the bus,” Robinson noted. “And if they get really busy they could double up with trains. They have so many ideas and they said it will take them at least two years to get down to one idea that will work.”

Terrence (last name withheld), a regular rail rider, was enthusiastic about the proposal.

“I think it’s a great project and we just need a governor who supports transportation,” said the Conshohocken resident. “I know that SEPTA declared a funding crisis the other day and it’s a real shame because no one else in the country operates so many modes of transit. They’re trying different ways of raising revenue, like the ads on the cars, and they shouldn’t have to do that.”

According to PlanPhilly.com SEPTA announced earlier in the week that the system may be affected by insufficient capital funding.

With the title Manager of Long Range Planning, the years of routing decisions, engineering applications, environmental studies, funding sourcing and design analysis don’t present much of a deterrent to SEPTA’s Jody Holton.

“In a few months we’ll be screening all the ideas we get and determining which ones are realistic in terms of feasibility, ridership potential, development potential and station areas from a property basis,” she said, noting that the first informational open house held at Valley Forge National Historical Park on Tuesday drew about 75 people, largely Upper Merion residents.

The impetus for the King of Prussia Rail Project was sparked by, among other things, the 7,000 employees at the King of Prussia Mall, she allowed.

“The business park just beyond it has another 19,000 employees,” Holton said.

“That’s in addition to all the shoppers, with 25 million visits to the mall every year. Another 1.5 million come to Valley Forge National Historical Park and the casino as well. This is an operating efficiency for us. There are a lot of reasons to pursue the project.”

In addition to the 202 plan, alternative routes include one that would branch off the Route 100 rail line in the Gulph Mills area and parallel the Schuylkill Expressway.

SEPTA encourages idea submissions and comments on its website, www.kingofprussiarail.com

Another round of public meetings in SEPTA’s aggressive outreach program will be held this summer, Holton noted.